I just wanted to try and make a little HL Episode. It was the first game I ever mapped for and I never finished anything I started with it. So it's more of a nostalgia trip than anything else. 

John Carmack:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3946/building_quake_live_carmack_speaks.php?page=5

So, in the couple months after launch, we will be putting together, more or less, a subscription option that allows players, for a very nominal fee -- something around like the $4.99 price point -- to also probably do other things, but the core functionality will be to allow players to, through the very elegant interface they have on the website, run their own game servers.

So in the end, they really want to resell a 10 year old game that only consists of a multiplayer mode. Isn't this pretty sad?

It's a good game and all, but shouldn't they be doing something groundbreaking instead? 

Hello Mr. Negative,

I find QuakeLive pretty great. The matchmaking works fine and I have never had as much fun with Quake 3.

Maybe if you did not take that quote completely out of context, you would notice that he talks about paying for running custom servers.

The game is fucking free, isn't this pretty nice? 

 

how's it running for you? Every game I play ends up lagging and freezing up. Sometimes it fixes itself and goes back to playing normally (and usually freezes again later) and sometimes I get proper system crashes and BSODs.

Really affecting my enjoyment of the game... when it's running nicely I have a lot of fun. I'm running it on firefox 3, have tried fullscreen and windowed, playing on european servers, UK servers if I can find them. 

Yeah - everything maxed out, looks great, 60hz, sometimes I lose the server, the stats seem to be disabled at the moment.... other than that its fine! Oh - it has a freind finder and tried to accept a request from the Negke and that didnt seem to work. 

Maybe if you did not take that quote completely out of context, you would notice that he talks about paying for running custom servers.

I did.

The game is fucking free, isn't this pretty nice?

Apparently not, which was the whole point of my post. I consider running your own server a vital part of the package.

Playing on id's servers is "free" if you don't consider looking at ads ingame (and serving as part of the community that they are in fact selling, thereby effectively working for them, unpaid) some kind of price.

Mr. Negative, heh.

If being "positive" is another way of saying that someone is being stupid enough to eat all the shit that people toss at him, then yes, I'm proudly negative. 

Quake 2 is effectively free, since you can play online with just the demo and latest patch, and I'm pretty sure it lets you run a server and has no ingame ads O_o

But sssh, don't tell. 

Runs very fine for me! 

I must be doing something wrong then... I was hoping it was just early-days jitters, and it would sort itself out. Will look into it. 

Do you really think it being multiplayer only is part of the problem? I really prefer to see multiplayer or singleplayer only game where they focus on one of those parts instead of adding a half-assed version of one of the modes that takes away resources from the main component only to score an extra bullet point on the box.

Anyway it doesn't seem to run very well for me as it is now and although I can see some value being added by the site with friends/stats/matchmaking old Q3 would probably offer a more enjoyable experience currently. 

Do you really think it being multiplayer only is part of the problem

No. My tongue just slipped. 

[is qlive free?] Apparently not, which was the whole point of my post. I consider running your own server a vital part of the package.


Just read the article, from what I can see, you aren't allowed to run your own server, you are in fact buying time on their servers with your $5. He claims this represents good value relative to normal server rental costs, but I have no experience there, so who knows.

Playing on id's servers is "free" if you don't consider looking at ads ingame (and serving as part of the community that they are in fact selling, thereby effectively working for them, unpaid) some kind of price.


Well, this is the premise of ad-supported games I guess, it is what it is. It's free in the monetary sense, but you pay for it by having your eyeballs bombarded with special offers on herbal viagra pills. The game content is degraded, and you can choose to make that sacrifice if you wish. The exciting thing here is that because so many people are cheapskates (hi) those servers are going to be rammed. 

The advertising is quite subtle and not degrading the game in any way for me. Just think of it as random image on the wall (muh_bad but without jesus).

And since I consider QuakeLive more like a "free service" instead of a free game I am totally fine with it. I really hope id can monetise it so it does not vanish in a year. 

"Don't Look Back" -- like a cross between Pitfall and Another World (AKA Out of This World.) Fun enough to play to the end. 

http://www.kongregate.com/games/TerryCavanagh/dont-look-back 

quite decent, its better that you have the option of going stealth or assault rather than forcing you to go one way (which still happens every now and then but at least not all the time).

wasnt used to seeing so much aliasing, for some reason the game turns off AA (even if you force it through desktop) if you select HDR rendering. graphics were decent otherwise without being anything awe inspiring.

did get a bit repetitive towards the end.

overall, good. 

Is chaos theory on the UE3 engine? If so then that would explain the lack of AA. There is some technical reason why UE3 cannot do AA on anything but DX10 hardware but I can't remember what it was.

I have not actually played any of the Splinter Cell games, as I find stealth frustrating in 90% of games (was great in Deus Ex tho), but if the sequels give you more freedom of choice then I might have to check them out. 

not sure, but I think so.

as for the stealth, Chaos theory is no actioner in the normal sense but compared to the other Splinter Cells, the amount of action that could be used was welcome. 

After purchasing a used copy of this game 3 years ago (!), I finally finished it. Overall, the story was interesting but the game was just a bit too difficult. There were a few things, though, that I really appreciated:

1) The mansion hub - while "won't budge" could get a little annoying, I liked the giant haunted house theme and would love to see it implemented in a Quake mod/map pack.

2) The "finish him" animations - it was neat to see how the various baddies dispatched you in Undying, even if it was often awkward and you couldn't fast forward through it :(

3) Creature diversity - from the gypsy terrorists to the giant floating heads with arms, there was a good variety of enemies with just the right amount of evil mixed in. I would like to see someone implement a comprehensive collection of prehistoric monsters in Quake like the base baddies in Quoth (e.g., cavemen with melee and long-distance attacks, dinosaurs, man-eating vegetation, etc.).

That is all. Now I hope to start playing my used copy of Wheel of Time! 

It's one of the good games.

I found that the last 'autumn' section jarred a bit with the rest, but was a great style anyway.

The skeletons were the only misjudged bit - infinitely respawning enemies is ALWAYS a bad idea. 

save for a few tech errors (czg has a great post on them earlier).

Wheel of Time is good fun too, great atmosphere like Undying. 

Indeed.

As was Wheel Of Time. 

i'm also reading the books right now and WoT game should NEVER have been a shooter. :\

i guess cause shooters were all the rage back then, but it would (and still could) make a great rpg. i'm eager to see how dragon age plays. 

BTW, you can 'kill' the skeletons for good with the Invoke spell (or some other spell if I named the wrong one).